Into the Dragon's Heart
by Aeladya
Summary: After returning from a 20 year kidnapping, the 23 year old Melinda Halliwell finds herself falling for Cole Turner, a demon that had smitten Phoebe years before. Will Cole fall for Melinda as well? Or will the others vanquish him before he has a chance?
1. Chapter 1

_**Prologue**_

_"Where's Melinda?" Piper asked Leo as she frantically looked for her three year old daughter. She had no powers now since her telepathy was driving her insane so they had to be bound so she couldn't be sensed. "Melinda?! This isn't funny! Where are you!" Piper called out as she searched the park for her daughter. After a while of searching, Piper found her daughter's favorite teddy bear and quickly called the police. it's been 20 years since that incident, Piper and Leo tried to get over their daughter's disappearance, but they couldn't. A phone call changed everything. A phone call that had found where Melinda was, but she couldn't remember a thing. Melinda was now 23 years old. "What? Are you crazy? I'm not your daughter!" the girl said. No matter how much she tried to fight it, DNA never lied, and after unbinding Melinda's powers, she came with them, knowing that she couldn't learn to use her magic on her own. It's been a month since Melinda has returned, and even though things are crazy now, they are about to get a whole lot crazier...espeically with the return of a certain demon that they wished would have remained dead..._

**Chapter 1**

"How could my whole life go to hell in just one month? They seem nice enough, but I wish I could have stayed there...my school was there after all...like I can afford to go to college here? They agreed to pay for some of it, but still, it just feels like charity since I don't know them, I don't even like eating the food they have, it just feels weird..." Melinda thought as she walked around the park. The skies were getting darker, like it was going to rain. She didn't mind, Melinda loved the rain, still she didn't know this area too well so it would have been in her best interest to get herself home. The cool San Francisco air blew against her skin as she looked up at the dark, cloudy skies. No one else seemed to have been around, but Melinda didn't mind. She hadn't been the best looking person, a couple of years ago she had been rather overweight, but she worked her ass off to get to her current healthy weight, she looked great and felt better too, now if only she could stop her binge eating whenever she got upset.

Just as Melinda predicted, it soon begun to rain, and the rains started to get heavy. Lightning struck around her, but Melinda wasn't near talented enough to manipulate the weather so the lightning didn't hit her, so far she could only manipulate it when she was angry, really, really angry. Melinda could also freeze and make things explode, it made up for the fact that she couldn't orb like her brothers could. A demon decided to take advantage of Melinda, who had been stuck in daydream mode as he threw a fire ball at her. It hit the back of Melinda's shoulder as she fell to the ground in pain, she was quickly covered in mud. Melinda looked up to see the demon get vanquished by a simple energy ball. A tall man with dark hair helped her up. Melinda had been praciticing enough with her telepathy to cloak her thoughts somewhat. "M-My shoulder hurts, b-but I'm fine..." she said as she looked up at the man. He was rather hot, at least in her opinion.

"You shouldn't be out here, you're going to catch a cold." the man told her. Melinda blushed as he spoke. "I could say the same for you." Melinda replied. She saw another demon appear behind her savior and her eyes turned as white as snow as she directed a lightning bolt at him and he exploded on impact. Her eyes returned to normal and Melinda brushed a long strand of dark hair from her face. "You're pretty powerful for someone so new at this..." the man replied. "What makes you think I'm new?" Melinda asked him. "You're powers are unrefined, you have trouble controlling them." he informed her. "So it's that obvious is it?" she asked. "Well to someone like me it is..." he told her. "I'm Melinda..." she said as she extended her arm, it had numbed for a minute, but when she extended her arm, the pain became more apparent as she winced in pain. "You shouldn't move that too much, it's burnt pretty badly." he replied. "You can call me Cole..." he told her, because of Melinda cloaking information from him, he couldn't read her, but he couldn't help but flirt around her, it was something about her that seemed so familiar.

"Well thank you...I guess I'll see you later then..." Melinda said, still flirting as she threw a teleportation potion on the ground and teleported herself home. She dressed her injuries since she appeared to be the only one home and put her arm in a sling she had kept since Melinda had sprained her wrist when she was younger. Melinda then went to the Book of Shadows. "Cole huh...sounds familiar...and yet..." she said. Melinda was already falling in love, with someone that she shouldn't of, and it wasn't because he was a demon, it was because he had done unforgivable things to her aunt years before.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Melinda found Cole's name in the Book of Shadows, along with that of another demon."Hmmm so that's why he was in the park, just likes taking walks...I wonder who wrote this?" she asked herself as she looked for a clue, but couldn't find one. She didn't care that he was a demon, he saved her and he was way cute. Very interesting and intriguing, for some odd reason, Melinda felt herself drawn to him. Just then she heard someone enter the attic and Melinda slammed the book shut. "Melinda? What are you doing with the book? Did you find a demon?" Phoebe asked as Melinda stood up. "Oh um I did, but he's dead now...no big deal." she said as she put the book back on the stand. Compared to her height, her family was rather short, Melinda was 5'7", and her aunts along with her mother were all under 5'5", which made Melinda rather tall. Her father's side probably had some rather tall people on it. "Melinda...what happened to your shoulder? It's bleeding." Phoebe noticed as she walked over to her niece and looked at the blood appearing through the bandages. "Oh ummm fire ball, I'm fine, I just have to learn not to daydream anymore...ever..." Melinda replied as she pulled away. Melinda had trust issues, her other family wasn't the greatest, the woman who took her, the one whom she thought was her birth mother was rather abusive, so Melinda had a hard time trusting people.

"Come on, we should change those bandages. You're mom will freak if she sees this..." Phoebe told her as she imagined things exploding around Melinda due to this, and then led Melinda to the bathroom. "Did you go hunting by yourself? You're still new, it's dangerous, you need to be more careful." Phoebe said as she started to remove the bandage. She winced as she saw the damage to Melinda's shoulder. "Oh wow...he got you good." Phoebe said as she threw the bloody bandages away. "Ummm I was just taking a walk in the park and a demon appeared, he hit me, but someone else was behind me and saved me. A guy...he threw an energy ball at the demon and vanquished him..." Melinda informed her as she winced in pain. "He had dark hair and was rather tall, pretty good looking actually." Melinda said as Phoebe accidently touched Melinda's wound and got a premonition. "Ow damn it! That hurt!" she said as she let some tears from the pain drop to the floor. "You need to stay away from that man..." Phoebe warned her as she finished up. "Why? He seemed rather sweet..." Melinda said as she blushed. "Melinda listen to me, he's dangerous...and I thought we got rid of him...obviously he doesn't know how to stay dead." Phoebe said as she left the room to go up to the attic.

Melinda was very confused. Sure there was that entry in the Book of Shadows, but he didn't seem like he was going to hurt her, if he was he would have already done it. Besides that, Melinda hated being told what to do, especially since she was 23 years old. Melinda followed after Phoebe and went upstairs. "So what, you're just going to vanquish the guy who saved my life? If he hadn't come along then I would have been a scorch mark on the ground by now." Melinda said to her. "Melinda, please for your own sake, trust me when I say he's dangerous, I know what I'm talking about." Phoebe warned her. "No I don't think you do Aunt...wait...what was your name again?" Melinda asked, she couldn't keep track of this family, she was lucky enough to remember her own name. "Seriously? Phoebe..." she replied. "Yeah...sorry, bad with names...in the 7th grade I kept calling one of my friends Ariel because I had a friend named that who looked like her, I'm lucky enough to remember my own name half of the time..." Melinda informed her. "Anyway back to the topic at hand, I don't think you do." she added.

"Melinda I've been at this since before you were born, trust me, I know all about this demon, he's just luring you into a false sense of security. I'm warning you not to go near him." Phoebe said to her. "I don't think he is, and I'm 23 years old, I don't have to listen to you." Melinda said as she started to get angry, and that wasn't a good thing. Phoebe quickly took out her cell phone and sent a text to Paige and Piper about Cole being alive again so they could figure out what to do with him. "Melinda, no matter what you think, Cole Turner will never be good, don't fall for his tricks, he is evil, evil can never become good, I know this from experience and so does your mother and your Aunt Paige, don't believe anything he says and don't fall for any tricks because he will just hurt you in the end. Please, just stay away from him. I can't have him hurt you." Phoebe said to her. Melinda started to leave the attic. "I'm not a child, maybe you guys never had the chance to know me, but I'm not a child, I can decide what's right and what's wrong, you can't decide for me or change my mind." Melinda said as she left the attic. "Damn it, why do all Halliwell's have to be so damn stubborn..." Phoebe said as she rubbed her temples.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

It had been a few days since Melinda met Cole. He was very interesting to say the least, very handsome and strong, Melinda couldn't seem to get her mind off of him. She had been walking to class when she bumped into someone, dropping her books on the ground. "Oh I'm so sorry..." Melinda said to him as she picked up her books, with the person helping her. "We just seem to be bumping into each other all over the place don't we?" the man said as Melinda looked up. She had seriously needed to stop daydreaming. "Yes we do, are you stalking me?" Melinda asked, flirting with him as he flirted back. "That depends on what your definition of stalking is I guess." he replied. "Hmmm well my sources informed me to stay away from such dangerous men, but you don't seem so dangerous to me..." Melinda replied. "Well your sources are correct, I am indeed dangerous..." Cole replied to her. "Is this dangerous in a way that you would kill me if you had the chance dangerous or dangerous as in the type of guy who just likes to get into trouble dangerous?" Melinda asked as she started to walk towards her class. "Hmmm well I used to be the first type of dangerous, but I consider myself more of the second type now." Cole replied as he followed behind her.

"I see, then my sources aren't as correct as they wish they were." Melinda told him as she smiled. She had never felt so attracted to someone such as Cole. "If you don't mind me asking, who might those sources be?" Cole asked her. "That's for me to know and you to find out." Melinda told him as she continued walking with a smile on her face. "Well would you maybe reveal these sources, say over dinner?" Cole asked her. "My, my, a demon asking a witch out to dinner. I'm guessing this isn't the first time you've done that." Melinda replied to his question. "Mmmm maybe yes and maybe no, that's for me to know and you to find out." Cole told her. "Touché." Melinda replied with a smile on her face. "Say around 7 tomorrow at Golden Gate Park?" he asked her. "Alright, I'll meet you there." Melinda said as she slipped him her cell phone number. How could Melinda resist a date like that? Even as a teenager she had never been on a date, so this opportunity was a first. She couldn't say no to him, which was dangerous for her, and Phoebe was going to kill her if she found out, so Melinda would just make sure that she didn't.

--

Melinda had the day off from classes the next day so she had gone shopping, she needed something nice to wear for the date, and if her aunt caught her going out with Cole she would be pissed, especially after Phoebe warned her not to go near him. She found some cute dresses and started to head towards the dressing room when she bumped into someone else. Melinda happened to be a rather big klutz. It happened to be her Aunt Paige, with Phoebe and Piper next to her. "Oh great, they're stalking me...as if I don't get enough of this crap at home." Melinda thought. "Melinda if you watched where you were going you wouldn't keep falling down stairs or running into people..." Piper warned her. "I don't think that would solve the stair problem, but I'll keep that in mind." Melinda replied as she stood up and picked up the dresses. "I've never seen you wear a dress before, have a date tonight?" Piper asked her. "You haven't seen a lot of things before and yes I do." Melinda told her. "Yay! My daughter's first date!" Piper replied as she hugged her. Melinda didn't like this one bit and pushed her away. "Oh right the hugging thing...you don't like people hugging you. I'm not going to hurt you, I'm not that other woman." Piper told her. "Yeah I know it's just...wait, how did you know I've never been on a date before?" Melinda asked her curiously. "I meant your first date here..." Piper started. "Wait you've never been on a date and you're 23 years old?" Paige asked her in shock. "Guys didn't find me attractive before, I had to work my ass off to be at a healthy weight because I was so overweight before. I have an addiction to ice cream..." Melinda replied to her aunt.

"Boy are you in trouble then, Piper has an addiction to cooking sweets." Paige replied as Piper pinched her. "Ow Piper! What was that for?!" Paige asked. "I'm out of here..." Melinda replied, she couldn't believe they were acting like children, actually she could, it was probably some ass backwards spell they cast. Melinda went into the dressing room and tried on the dresses. Finally she picked out a blank dress that was cute and rather revealing, like something Phoebe would have worn. She looked into the mirror and Phoebe poked her head over the top of the dressing room, causing Melinda to jump. "What the hell!" Melinda said as she tried to recover from the heart attack that could have happened. "Sorry, I just have to ask, who is your date with?" Phoebe asked her. "None of your god damn business that's who it's with." Melinda replied as she waited for Phoebe to not be able to see her so she could change. Once she had finished Melinda came out of the dressing room with the dress she was going to buy. "Melinda if I find out it's with Cole you're going to be in trouble." Phoebe warned her. "What's going to be with Cole? Melinda? What's going on?" Piper interrupted as Melinda was paying. "Nothing, it's none of your business." Melinda replied as she took the bag and started to leave. "Melinda, Phoebe told us what happened, she's right, he may of saved my life, but you need to stay away from him. I don't know how he came back to life for the...oh hell I don't remember, it's got to be more than three times though, and frankly I'm not surprised, but Phoebe knows this more than any of us do, he's a dangerous guy. Please promise us you won't go near him." Piper begged her. Melinda had her hands behind her back and pulled one out in front of her like she was swearing on an invisible bible in court, the other had her fingers crossed. "I promise." she said, it was a lie, but she didn't care, Melinda didn't see Cole as an evil person.

--

That night Melinda had gotten ready for her date, she had cloaked herself with her telepathy so her aunt's and mother couldn't find her and met Cole at 7 PM. "My you look lovely." he told her, taken back by her beauty. "Thanks, you look great too." she replied, blushing some. They walked to the restaurant across the street from the park and sat at their table. "So are you going to tell me who your sources are?" he asked her. "Hmmm that depends, is that the only reason you asked me out?" she asked him, moving a piece of dark brown hair away from her face. "No, but I am curious." Cole replied. "My sources are family, let's just leave it at that." Melinda put simply as she smiled at him. Piper, Phoebe and Paige were nearby, they had followed her there the mortal way. "I'm guessing two aunts and a mother." Cole guessed as he smiled at Melinda. "My you are well informed..." Melinda told him. "Well that and they seem to be spying on us." Cole told her. Melinda turned around and was not amused. She flicked her hands and froze the room, but due to how many powers he had, Cole was unaffected by it. She would deal with that later. "Melinda, you promised us that you wouldn't go near him." Piper said sternly. "Yes, but I already promised the date, and if you haven't noticed already, I'm a good liar...I had my fingers crossed the entire time." Melinda replied.

Phoebe was pissed, her face was red from anger. "You! What part of stay away from my family do you not get?!" Phoebe yelled. "I didn't know she was your family." Cole replied. "Bull! You're using her to get to me. I don't want you, don't you get it?!" Phoebe replied. "I know you don't want me! I'm the one who wanted you to move on damn it!" Cole yelled back. Melinda hated yelling, especially like this. She threw her napkin in Phoebe's face. "Well thank you for ruining my very first and very last date! I hope you're fucking happy!" Melinda yelled as she stormed out, unfreezing the room. She was really pissed and really upset. Cole just left and the Charmed Ones followed after him. "You either leave Melinda alone or we'll vanquish your sorry ass." Phoebe warned him. "You're going to vanquish me no matter what, besides that if Melinda wants to be with me it's her decision, not yours. Go ahead and try to vanquish me, you know I'll just keep coming back." Cole told them, he was right, he was like cancer, try as you might it can keep coming back, despite how many times you've destroyed it. So he left, thinking about what to do about Phoebe and her niece Melinda.


End file.
